Shas party De-facto leader, Aryeh Deri, called upon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin coalition negotiations in
advance of election day. “I am prepared to come to your home and decide on
entering the government," Dero declared on Channel 2 news.
"The Likud
voters should know that Netanyahu prefers a government with the
center-left instead of his natural partners. I think that the day after
the election Netanyahu will find that we are his natural partner," Deri added on 'Meet the Press'.
In which Likud officials responded: “The public needs to
remember how Deri joined up with the left at the time of the Oslo
agreements. Anyone who votes for
Shas is liable to find it in a coalition with the left.”
Shas updated their response Sunday morning morning in the language
of its own: “Likud-Beitenu has already closed a deal with Lapid and
Livni. The Likud-Beiteinu evasions of giving a clear answer to voters
about the future coalition mean a Likud-Lapid government like the one
established in 2003, without Shas, which brought harsh decrees and
damage to tradition. We have already declared that we will recommend to
the president to tap Netanyahu to form the government. Only a strong
Shas in the government will force Netanyahu not to ignore the weaker
strata of society," the joint Shas leadership statement read.
